Todos los capítulos de The Omega King: Capítulo 11 - Capítulo 20

Malakor's jaw ticked. "What atrocity! A king does not leave his throne. To even suggest such is a crime on its own." Turning fully to face him, his eyes hardened. "Just because a mere duke has decided fear is a strategy doesn't mean we'll risk the one life this kingdom cannot afford to lose. If Duke Vance believes otherwise, it would only suggest a deeper plot at work.”Before Vance to bite back with a sharper reply, Arthur cleared his throat loudly. “I'll go."The chamber went silent. Malakor turned, and for the first time that morning something other than composure crossed his face."Your Majesty—""I'll go," Arthur said again, evenly, as though he were confirming a shipment date and not his own presence on a battlefield. "Vance is right that the men on that line need a reason to hold it beyond duty. They'll have one."For a moment Vance simply stared at him, caught flat-footed by having won something he hadn't finished asking for. Then he recovered, and the recovery was almost wor

"Leave us," Arthur said, without turning.Malakor didn't move at first. His eyes went from the kneeling man to Arthur and back again, something unreadable working behind his expression."Malakor.""Your Majesty." The title came out clipped, formal in a way it hadn't been between them in weeks. Malakor's gaze lingered a moment longer on Kaelen — a long, assessing look, the kind he might have given a rival across a council table — before he turned and left the room, pulling the door shut harder than it needed.Arthur waited until his footsteps had faded down the stairs before he crouched again in front of Kaelen, who was still on his knees, blood drying at his split lip."You could have sent word," Arthur said. "Instead I nearly watched my Regent beat you to death on an inn floor.""He's thorough. I'll grant him that." Kaelen wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and managed something close to a smile. "I came because I had business two towns over — a debt owed to the Court that nee

Malakor had the scouting parties split into three groups. "I'll take the eastern ridge," he said, already tracing lines across the rough map spread over a supply crate. "Isrel , you have the river approach — you know it better than any of us. Kaelen, the southern woods." He glanced up. "The King rides with me.""Why?" Kaelen asked, too fast, stepping forward before Arthur could answer for himself. "With respect, Regent, protecting His Majesty on unscouted ground is my duty, not yours. He should ride with my group. Or I'll come with yours.""He isn't lacking for guards," Malakor said, without looking up from the map. "What exactly makes you think you're the better choice?"Kaelen's jaw tightened, and he opened his mouth to press it further."Enough." Arthur's voice cut through before either of them could escalate it in front of the assembled riders. "I'll go with Malakor. He knows this terrain better than either of you, and I'd rather learn it from someone who's actually walked it."K

The tent went silent. Arthur looked down at him for a long moment and finally nodded his head. "Rise."Malakor did, and while many of the men had their reservations, none spoke out."Then I'll take the center," Arthur continued, turning to the map, already moving markers with steady hands. "Malakor, the left flank. General Frost, hold the right and keep reinforcements in reserve behind the ridge — if the marsh route I mentioned earlier is real, that's where they'll try to slip men around us."The war was brutal. Blood, war cries, and the clinking scream of steel rolled off the field in a single unbroken wall of sound, and Arthur learned within the first quarter hour that reading a battle from a map and standing inside one were definitely not the same.He was good at neither the brute contest of strength nor pretending to be. What he had instead was timing — the half-second a man's shoulder dropped before he committed to a swing, the gap that opened when two enemies turned to face the

The warmth of the pool began to fade as the fire of Arthur’s heat settled into a soft, steady pulse. Malakor lay still on the cave floor for a long time, rough stone biting into his back, chest rising and falling in heavy rhythms. Arthur lay heavily against him, his full weight surrendered to sleep, forehead resting in the hollow of Malakor’s neck. Soft puffs of breath warmed skin still slick with water and sweat. Slowly, carefully, Malakor moved his hands. Calloused, bruised fingers traced the line of Arthur’s spine. There was no pretense left between them. No library tables, no tactical distances, no careful layers of rank and duty. A quiet, fierce contentment settled in Malakor’s chest—thicker than any triumph of battle or fortress taken. Holding Arthur like this, feeling the heartbeat under Arthur’s ribs matching his own, felt more like a home than anywhere he had stood in his entire life. He closed his eyes and pressed his mouth briefly against Arthur’s wet, tangled hair, br